On October 11, 2025, the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF) co-hosted the 2nd U.S.-China Art Dialogue at the Beijing Comedy Theatre, as part of the 28th Beijing Music Festival’s special programming.

Huang Dizhong, CUSEF Vice President, led a dialogue emphasizing the significance of artistic and cultural exchange in an increasingly interconnected world, as well as the social responsibility of artists. Featured speakers included Du Yun, the first Chinese woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, and Zou Shuang, Artistic Director of the Beijing Music Festival.

The discussion highlighted Du Yun’s musical theater piece, “The Ocean Etched in the Forest,” which premiered at the 28th Beijing Music Festival. According to Du Yun, she created the work collaboratively with cultural inheritors of the Jino ethnicity in Yunnan and local children, hoping that these young people can rediscover and express their cultural roots through performing. The production will also take the stage at Lincoln Center in New York City on November 7. The event concluded with Jino performers from Yunnan showcasing live folk music.

Launched in 1998, this year's Beijing Music Festival—themed “Future Tradition · Moments and New Voices”—brings a dynamic fusion of classical and contemporary works, showcasing both Chinese and international composers while fostering musical dialogue between East and West.

CUSEF hosted the first U.S.-China Art Dialogue earlier this year in Hong Kong, which focused on the role of artists and museums in shaping cultural understanding between the two nations. Speakers included Philip Tinari, Director and Chief Executive of the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art; Wu Weishan, Director of the National Art Museum of China; Noah Horowitz, Art Historian and Art Basel CEO; Alexandra Munroe, Senior Curator and Senior Advisor of Global Arts at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, among others.

These dialogues reflect CUSEF’s ongoing commitment to deepening people-to-people exchange through the arts.

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Du Yun shares the story behind “The Ocean Etched in the Forest”  during the 2nd U.S.-China Art Dialogue at the Beijing Comedy Theatre.